


The Chosen of Marinara

by SuikaShoujo



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, As written by someone who worked there for over a year, Everyone works at Pizza Hut, M/M, Slow Burn, this is just going to be a combination of fluff and a vent piece I'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26247733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuikaShoujo/pseuds/SuikaShoujo
Summary: Lloyd Irving just wants to do his job as a shift manager at the local Pizza Hut while he figures out what to do with his life.His coworkers, including an absentee boss, his childhood friends, an overbearing area manager with big ideas and no experience, and, most importantly, the new overly-friendly delivery driver (that he is most definitely NOT taking an interest in) have other plans.
Relationships: Lloyd Irving/Zelos Wilder
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	The Chosen of Marinara

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even remember how or why this idea came up, except that it definitely started in the zelloyd server when I was ranting about my old job. I havent written any modern AU stuff since my Yugioh days, so it'll be an interesting challenge.
> 
> This is going to be zelloyd with a healthy blend of true stories from my time as a Pizza Slut, and things I made up but could very realistically have happened if these characters were in that environment. (I'm interested to see which ones people think go in each category, actually.) Updates may be sporadic because I don't have an outline set up for this, but I do have most of the major plot points and character backgrounds all set, so I'm hoping to make this at least somewhat of a longer fic.

Lloyd Irving had never been known for his intelligence. He was never the brightest student in his class, or the one people went to when they needed help with their studies, or even someone people trusted to give answers to basic questions. He had his high school degree, and that, he maintained, was plenty. He was 19 years old, after all-- how much more could  _ possibly _ be out there to study?

What Lloyd did have, however, was common sense. This wasn't something anyone had ever pointed out to him before, and it wasn't a trait he ever would have thought to apply to himself.

But as he stood at the front register of the local Pizza Hut, store phone in hand, he started to wonder if maybe, just  _ maybe _ , he had a leg up over some of the people around him.

"So, yeah, I checked the schedule, and it said 11-5, but like, does that mean I need to be there at 11? Or 5?" 

Lloyd didn't answer for a second. Or two. It took him a good five seconds to fully understand what the voice on the other end was saying. Not because the words themselves were incomprehensible, but because he had never in a million years imagined they would be strung together in that specific way.

Lloyd inhaled sharply, closed his eyes, and sighed as quietly as he could before answering.

"...Zelos?"

"Yes, hunny?" Lloyd could practically  _ hear  _ the wink in the man's voice.

"What time is it right now?"

"Hmm, just about noon, it looks like?"

"And what time was it an hour ago?"

"...11? Lloyd, unlike you, I actually got a decent education, so it's awfully bold of you to question my abilities with numbers." Lloyd had to take a second to pull the phone away from his ear, shoot Genis a very tired look when he saw him glancing over from the back of the house, and rub at his temples before he finally found the strength to respond. 

“Dude. You were supposed to be here an hour ago. 11 to 5 means you start at 11, and leave at 5. Are you coming in or not?”

For a moment, much to Lloyd’s surprise, Zelos was silent on the other end, but only for a moment, before he spoke with a voice that dripped with insincere flirtatiousness. “That depends, hun. If you admit that you’ve been just  _ aching  _ to spend even a second more of your life in the presence of the illustrious Zelos Wilder, heir to a massive corporation owned by the Wilder family for generations and eligible bachelor of every fair lady’s dreams, I  _ may  _ be willing to take the time to drive down there, just for you.” Once again, the words were almost  _ certainly  _ followed by a wink, and even imagining it was enough to increase the building headache in Lloyd’s skull tenfold.

“Oh no, don’t do it just for me,” Lloyd responded dryly, “Think of all the beautiful women waiting to have their pizzas delivered by such a stunning gentleman. What will they ever do without your charming words? Or, wait, what did they call it last time I got a call about it? 'Sexual Harassment?'” 

“Hmm…” Zelos seemed to think for a moment before he answered with the same obnoxiously carefree tone as before, clearly not taking the second part of Lloyd’s comment into consideration. “Well, if it’s for all my cute kittens waiting patiently for me to show up at their door with some  _ hot sausage _ , who am I to say no? I’ll be there in 15 minutes. See ya~” the line went dead before Lloyd could get another word in. Scowling, he set the phone back onto the receiver.

"So, are we gonna have a driver today or not?" Lloyd didn't even have a chance to turn around before he heard a very familiar voice coming from the kitchen door. He finally let out the long, exasperated sigh he had been holding back before looking at Genis, who had a look of irritation on his face that Lloyd understood all too well. He was holding two medium pizzas and some breadsticks, and when Lloyd glanced at the ticket that labeled the order, the word "Delivery" in bold letters at the top only heightened his annoyance with Zelos, the only driver Kratos had scheduled for the opening shift.

"He said he'd be here in 15 minutes, but knowing him, it'll probably be closer to 45." It had only been about a week since they had hired Zelos Wilder as their newest delivery driver, but even after just a couple of shifts with him, Lloyd had already picked up on his…  _ less than ideal  _ work ethic. He didn't think the man had shown up for a single shift on time, and even when he did show up, getting him to do his job while in the store between deliveries was like pulling teeth. 

"You want  _ me _ to wash the dishes?" he would whine, looking at Lloyd with a pout he was sure was meant to be endearing. (It wasn't, and Lloyd never had any trouble telling him as much.) "Come on, I haven't even gotten a break yet! Show some compassion!" 

Lloyd still shuddered whenever he remembered the day he had to break the news to Zelos that they didn't actually  _ get  _ breaks, and were only allowed to sit and rest when everything else was taken care of.

Everything, it seemed, was an argument with him, and Lloyd was already getting tired of it. 

"Why can't we just get rid of him already?" Genis asked, handing Lloyd the delivery that would apparently not be reaching its destination any time soon. They couldn't get it out yet, but they could at least keep it warm, Lloyd reasoned, so he put it in the warmer usually reserved for carry out orders. "I'm so sick of him trying to push all his crap onto me."

Lloyd shrugged. "That's up to Kratos. And I've never seen him fire  _ anybody _ , so I wouldn't get your hopes up." It was true: even though the staff at their store seemed to change on a near-weekly basis, it was always on the terms of the person leaving, not the store. Lloyd wasn't even sure what it would take to  _ actually _ get fired anymore, or if it was even possible at all.

"Well,  _ hopefully  _ we won't get any more deliveries in until that idiot decides to show up." Shaking his head, Genis retreated back to his spot near the line. Only a few moments passed before a shrill, two-note beep rang from the monitor just above his head, followed immediately by a frustrated groan. Reluctantly, Genis peeked up at the screen, and immediately winced. 

"Well, hey, at least it's not a delivery?" Despite his words of optimism, Lloyd couldn't hide the brief look of annoyance that crossed his face. The screen only listed a single order, but was still almost entirely covered in a long list of toppings, sides, and special instructions. The ingredients were listed in a combination of black, bright green, and red text, which could only mean that the customer had made a  _ few _ substitutions.

Genis clicked his tongue, but immediately went to pull out the dough from the cooler next to the line. "I don't know why the system lets them get away with that," Genis muttered. "If the sale is on a large meat lover's, you shouldn't be able to just make it  _ vegetarian _ and still get the deal." Lloyd shrugged, and pulled out a second pan of dough after he moved aside. The two of them worked quickly and efficiently as they moved the two pizzas down the line-- the two had only been working together for a little over two months, but after growing up as close childhood friends, it wasn't difficult for them to move in perfect harmony, no matter the task.

The third and final pizza had just gotten cheese when the alarm for the front door rang out, another high-pitched series of noises that always made Lloyd reflexively tense up. But he quickly realized that it wasn't a customer at all. If he hadn't needed someone to drive that day, he would have argued that it was someone even  _ worse _ .

"Hunny~!" There was only one person in the store with such a grating manner of speaking, so Lloyd didn't even bother turning around, instead focusing intently on a handful of pepperoni. "Oh, and the brat, I guess." Genis frowned, but had also quickly learned that engaging with Zelos when he was in moods like these would only cause more trouble, so he remained focused on the task at hand.

"What, I don't even get a hello after you asked me to come all this way? Lloyd, you're so cold, man…"

"Maybe you'd get a warmer welcome if you showed up on time for once," Lloyd grumbled in response, still stubbornly refusing to turn around. "Go clock in, and I'll get you set up to drive. We have an order that was due 10 minutes ago."

"Alright, alright. I can see when I'm not wanted--" 

"Zelos, leaving the store to deliver food is your  _ job _ , it has nothing to do with--"

"C'mon, let's go. We can leave the rest of that pizza to the  _ child _ , okay?" Lloyd rubbed at his temples with his fingertips. He still had another 4 hours before he would get to leave for the day, and the way things were going, he would be lucky to get through it without losing his temper at least once. Kratos often praised him for his abilities in dealing with both the average customer and the people he worked with-- it was one of the main reasons he had been promoted to a shift lead within a few months of starting at the store-- but would usually follow it up with the caveat that he needed to control his anger and not be quite so stubborn when dealing with some of the more…  _ vocal _ members of the community. 

And, apparently, the louder members of his own staff.

"You got this, Genis?" he asked after a moment, shooting his friend an apologetic glance. He received a quick nod in response.

"Go get him set up. The sooner he gets out of here, the better." He turned around just to glare for a moment at Zelos, who put his hands up in a show of false surrender and backed away.

"Alright. I'll be back in a minute to get on the cut table, so just keep doing what you're doing." After getting one last nod in return, Lloyd finally turned to look at Zelos, who grinned back at him. Lloyd didn't say anything, and walked towards the front, with Zelos following closely behind him.

_ Very  _ closely.

"...Could you maybe, uh,  _ not  _ use my shoulder as an armrest?" Lloyd made a point of focusing exclusively on inputting all the necessary information to get Zelos logged in and ready to go. Zelos had been doing things like this since the day he started, and while Lloyd had given up on trying to lecture him about it-- it was a little strange sometimes, sure, but it was never so much that it made him genuinely  _ uncomfortable _ \-- he wasn't about to ignore it entirely.

"Stop being so comfy and I'll consider it." 

"...Do you need a bank?" Lloyd did, however, know how to tell that he wasn't being listened to at all. 

"Nah. I've got a bunch of cash in my car. Not that a  _ poor person _ like you would know what that's like." 

"You're all set, then. Make sure to apologize to the customer for being late, I  _ really  _ don't need an angry phone call today." Lloyd paused. "...Don't flirt with them either, while you're at it."

Zelos pulled away and winked at him."Aye aye, captain. See you later." And without breaking eye contact for another few seconds, he walked over to the warmer and grabbed the order he needed. Lloyd waited until he saw the door shut behind Zelos, that grating alarm playing him out, to let out the long sigh he had been holding back. On his way back into the kitchen, he paused by the bulletin board where Kratos posted the weekly schedule. 

The morning shift was usually slow, so he wasn't expecting to see anyone else until the shift change, but a small part held out hope that he would get some sort of backup. Colette, maybe; she wasn't the most skilled employee when it came to physical labor or cooking, so she mainly worked the register, but she had an uncanny ability to make everyone in the room at any given time settle their differences and get along. But the next person scheduled to come in was Sheena, and that wouldn't be until it was time for Lloyd to leave and Yuan to take over as the closing manager. Which meant it would just be Genis, Zelos, and himself for another few hours, which was a volatile mix on the best of days.

_ I should  _ really  _ talk to Kratos about adjusting the schedule _ , Lloyd thought, but quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind. The electronic sound of another order coming in immediately overrode any of his worries. Maybe it would be a busy day, and there would be no time for Zelos and Genis to butt heads over anything. Maybe there would be a lot of deliveries, and Zelos would spend most of the day on the road. Maybe, just  _ maybe _ , he could go a day without needing to mediate between his staff.

None of those things were going to happen, Lloyd knew all too well, but he was nothing if not an optimist.

_ Just a few more hours. _


End file.
